Downing Street Says » Prisons / Sentencing

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that burglars should be sent to jail, the PMS said that there was a review into sentencing underway, which was announced in the coalition document, and we should wait to see the conclusion of that review. The Prime Minister said yesterday that the justice system was there for the people of the country, and the people of the country needed to have faith in that system, and needed to feel that people were punished in the way they should be. Equally we needed to do as much as possible to rehabilitate people, because at the moment we had a situation where a large number of people who came out of prison would reoffend in the first year.

Asked which people should be sent to jail, the PMS said that people should wait to see the review’s findings.

Asked if the Prime Minister endorsed all of the Justice Secretary’s comments, the PMS said that the Justice Secretary spoke for the Government on these matters.

Put that the Prime Minister had changed his mind about punishment and prisons since the election, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not changed his mind, and what the Justice Secretary had said was consistent with what the Prime Minister had said. The Prime Minister was asked about this yesterday and set out his view; there was a place for short-term sentences, particularly in the case of persistent offenders, but we needed to also see what we could do to make community punishment more meaningful.

Put that the Justice Secretary had said that it was virtually impossible to do anything meaningful with someone serving a short-term sentence, the PMS said that the Justice Secretary had also said that there was a review underway and that the Government would look at the findings of that review.

Asked what the point of the Justice Secretary’s speech was, the PMS said that the Justice Secretary wanted to set out his approach, which Ministers often do.

Put that there was confusion from the Government on this subject, the PMS said that the Government’s position was clear and had been set out in the coalition document; there would be a review and we would look at the conclusions of that review.

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» Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Prisons / Sentencing

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